UNFPA The United Nations Population Fund

Vienna, 19 July 2010 – Today several of the world’s largest institutions that are critical to serving the needs of women and children are pledging their commitment to work jointly with the United Nations Secretary General and others in a new global effort to save the lives of more than 10 million women and children.  Organizations serving women, children and people living with HIV such as UNAIDS, UNFPA,  UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health are  coming together with leaders in the NGO community including Family Care International, World Vision International, International Council of AIDS Service Organizations, Care, Save the Children, the International Planned Parenthood Federation and countless others to unite in the effort to improve maternal and child health and  save the lives of millions of women and children.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a new effort this year, the Joint Action Plan for Women’s and Children’s Health, that builds on existing initiatives to drive integration and synergies, and identifies new commitments to women’s and children’s health from all sectors of society.  2010 has been called a tipping point, a historic year where the world came together to improve the health of women and children.  However, HIV and AIDS remains a top killer of women and children around the world.

Integrating HIV/AIDS with Women’s and Children’s Health Programmes Critical to Success

“Addressing HIV/AIDS and improving women’s and children’s health are inextricably linked,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “One cannot succeed without the other.”

Half of adults living with HIV are women, and young women between 15 and 24 years of age are at particular risk of sexual and reproductive ill-health due to HIV infection. Globally, the two leading causes of death in women of reproductive age are HIV and complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and a recent analysis indicates that HIV may have increased maternal deaths, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, by almost 20%. More than 2 million children were living with HIV; almost half a million children were infected and more than 250,000 died of AIDS in 2008.

"The AIDS response is already contributing to maternal, new born and child health through strengthening health systems and community responses," said Paul De Lay, UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programmes. "When AIDS is out of isolation, we can achieve wider health outcomes."

“Listening to women we know that they want to go to one place to have their health needs met – for family planning, maternal healthcare and services for HIV/AIDS.  Linking sexual and reproductive health and HIV makes sense. It saves lives, delivers more health for the money – and it works for women,” said Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

AIDS prevention and treatment efforts have paved the way to reach women and children for other critical health needs, and maternal and child health services provide a crucial entry point for HIV prevention, treatment and care.

"The Joint Action Plan for Women’s and Children’s Health represents a fresh opportunity to look at how we can deliver integrated health care services for women and children across the full continuum of care,” said Ann Starrs, President of Family Care International. “Advocates who work on maternal and child health and on HIV/AIDS must work together to increase resources for health, rather than competing for the bigger slice of the pie.”

The Joint Action Plan for Women’s and Children’s Health

The Joint Action Plan is a historic opportunity led by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to improve the health of women and children, calling on international, national, business and civil society leaders to intensify efforts. The Joint Action Plan focuses on women and children because they are the engines that drive our families and our communities, our economies and our nations. The Plan builds on existing efforts and aims to spur progress through an integrated package of health interventions to ensure women’s and children’s health.

The Joint Action Plan is a historic opportunity to join a growing global movement that will make history.  New financial, service delivery and policy commitments will be announced during the 2010 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit in September.

GENEVA, 15 July 2010—Five United Nations agencies—UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS, and UNDP—express concern that health and social workers have suffered as a result of their professional activities in the response to HIV in several countries in eastern Europe and central Asia.

Persecution, criminal investigation, arrests and sentencing of HIV activists as well as health and social workers affect not only the lives of the people involved but also discourage other activists and professionals, and deprive societies of some of the most valuable and vital resources in the response to the epidemic—people’s commitment and energy at the community level.

Health, social and outreach workers are at the front line of the response to HIV, providing critical assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people who need it. They also help countries meet their goals and obligations in the HIV response, linking government efforts with the most vulnerable to HIV—young people and populations at high risk of infection.

In several countries of eastern Europe and central Asia, health and social workers and volunteers have been prosecuted because of their professional activities—activities they felt compelled to carry out in order to save lives, as the epidemic does not wait for societies to adjust and re-examine principles and approaches.

The activities of these practitioners have been guided by scientific evidence on how best to achieve good public health outcomes. Often challenging taboos, health and social workers inform adolescents about the behaviours that lead to HIV infection, help injecting drug users through harm reduction activities, support prevention programmes for sex workers and men who have sex with men, and work in oral substitution centres for drug users or in health facilities in conditions that are far from perfect.

Eastern Europe and central Asia is the only region in the world where new HIV infections remain on the rise. The contribution of these front-line practitioners is essential in responding to the epidemic in the region. They need the support and protection of authorities, and their basic human rights must be ensured.

The UN agencies urge governments to acknowledge the critical role of health and social workers in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and to better understand the complexity of their work. We appeal to the governments of the region to bring an end to counterproductive persecution and harassment, to discontinue procedures that hamper their work and release those who have been detained.